How to prepare the perfect pitch to investors

The term pitch to investors comes from “elevator pitch“, but what exactly is an elevator pitch? We will use an example to explain it.

Imagine that you have a business idea. You have a clear business plan, you have a couple of partners who support the idea but you lack a key element: investment. You know that there is an important investor who may be interested in the idea. To get his attention, you go to his workplace and wait for him to enter the lobby. He goes to the lift to go up to his office and you see it as a golden opportunity. You enter the lift with him and explain to him, during the lift ride, what your business idea is, with the aim of getting him interested in it.

This short, direct and seductive speech is the elevator pitch or pitch to investors. At Itnig we offer a weekly pitch to investors which you can attend, but first, we will explain how to prepare the exemplary pitch.

Preparing the content for the pitch to investors

Now that we know from where does this expression come and what it means, the question is how do we prepare a pitch to investors?

To develop an exemplary pitch to investors, you must first define three concepts:

Target audience analysis

Like any type of business, an entrepreneurial project has a target to reach, a group of people who need a solution to a problem. It is key to know the potential market and which is the public we will reach, since the business strategy will revolve around it.

Identification of the problem

Businesses are born after bringing the solution to a problem to the market. This is why it is key to know our potential client well. Knowing what means he uses to communicate you will be able to analyze what he asks from the market. If you can justify this information by means of surveys or interviews with your target group, you will add additional value to the discourse.

Definition of the solution

Knowing the target audience and what the problem is, the solution will come. Here you should be able to define clearly and concisely what the business opportunity is. The idea is to be able to transmit the message in a close and convincing way in order to seduce the potential investor.

Preparing the pitch to investors

The time has come to draw up the pitch to investors. You must think that, as we explained at the beginning, this is a speech “made in an elevator”, so you can forget about any type of image/slides support.

At Itnig’s pitch to investors, we ask for the following structure: a presentation that should last about 3 minutes. After you have finished your pitch, a 5 minutes Q&A round will take place so the board of investors and the audience are able to better understand your project. Take advantage of the questions to explain

Remember to be precise and synthesize your information. The way you explain what your business is about shows your priorities. Using the information collected during the preparation of the content, you can define the following elements:

The Market

You should start talking about which market are you entering. Which is the problem you are solving with your product/service? Which are the characteristics of this market? How many people represent this market? Clearly defining your market is key to contextualize your pitch and to understand your project.

Who you are and where do you come from

It is essential that, with a couple of words, you can define yourself correctly. You must talk about who you are, how many members are in the team, what your experience is in the market you want to reach, and how you have positioned yourself as a brand. Explaining why you have an unfair advantage to offer your solution to the market might be interesting as well.

What are you offering?

It seems obvious, but it is of the utmost importance. Making this element clear from the beginning of the pitch to investors is key to developing a discourse that will captivate the potential investor. Answering the following questions might help you describe this point: What is the solution you are bringing to the market? How are you going to make money from it?

What is your added value?

This is the most important point. This is where you must convince the investor that your business model is better than the competition. Entering a market (of any kind) is always difficult, so you must explain why you are 10x better than your competitors. For the investor, the project must be competent and efficient, in order to choose to invest in it.

Start concluding your pitch to investors

Now is time to sum up all the information given, and give some nuance to the aspects you want to be recorded in the mind of the board. How do you reach the market? What is the business plan? Elements such as these are what you should clarify correctly. The aim is for these concepts to arouse some interest. If you manage to do so, you will be asked questions and you will be able to elaborate and extend the explanation.

Why did you come to the pitch to investors?

The answer might seem obvious to you, but the board of investors is interested in your end goal of giving the pitch. Are you looking for feedback? Do you need money? Why do you need that money?

How do I apply to Itnig Fund?

If you have gotten to this point it means that your pitch to investors is ready and that you have an early-stage project that needs funding. Itnig has a fund for early-stage startups. With the Itnig Fund we aim to invest around 100.000€ per project. We also offer team support and ensure we understand the market opportunity.

Last year we were able to launch a very special weekly event: pitch to investors. Every Thursday at 7pm we prepare our space for all those entrepreneurs who wish to present their projects to us in order to please our investors.

If you have a project that you think has potential, we encourage you to apply to our fund. You will have to fill in a form specifying aspects of your project. You will also have to buy a speaker ticket to present the project during the week that suits you best. It is highly recommended that you prepare your presentation in English, as we offer a pitch to investors online and have viewers and speakers from all over the world. Additionally, there is no need to bring any type of PowerPoint presentation, we want to be focused just on you!

At the end of the speech, the Q&A time will start. Don’t panic if you are asked too many questions! Keep focused on clearly answering them. In addition, the Itnig fund team will offer you feedback and their point of view on the business, based on their experience. On the board, you will meet Albert Domingo (CEO at NexTreT), Bernat Farrero (CEO at Itnig), Juan Rodriguez (CEO at Camaloon), and Jordi Romero (CEO at Factorial). You will be able to talk to them more closely after the event.

At Itnig we currently have 10 companies in our startup portfolio (Factorial, Camaloon, Quipu, Parkimeter, Syra Coffee, Hireflix, Vasquiat, Kubbo, Orain, and Payflow) and 2 exits (Andjoy and Playfulbet). If you prepare a good pitch to investors your project could appear in our portfolio. We encourage you to prepare a good speech with these tips, and come and talk to us about your business opportunity.

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